Ajax appeared to be headed for another poor result as the two sides entered the closing minutes of the game locked at 1-1. However, Van der Hart whiffed on an attempted clearance from Wesley Verhoek's back pass, allowing the ball to trickle into the net in the 88th minute for the winning goal.

Anwar El Ghazi handed Ajax the lead in the 24th minute when he scored from close range, but the hosts found an equalizer 14 minutes from time through a wonderful 25-yard strike from Sjoerd Overgoor that found the top corner of the net.

A draw would have dropped Ajax further off the pace of leaders PSV Eindhoven, but Van der Hart's blunder handed them three points and keeps the defending champions 12 points off the pace.

Feyenoord moved into third place by holding off Cambuur, 2-1, with a goal on either side of halftime from Karim El Ahmadi and Kazim Kazim-Richards.

AZ Alkmaar overcame a two-goal deficit to win 4-2 at Groningen, lifting the club into fourth place.

The home side took a 2-0 lead inside of 37 minutes, but after Steven Berghuis pulled a goal back just before the break, AZ turned it on over the final 30 minutes, scoring three times as Jeffrey Gouweleeuw netted the equalizer before a pair of goals from Markus Henriksen won the match.

Heracles remains in the bottom three after losing 3-0 at Willem II on Sunday as first-half goals from Samuel Armenteros and Robbie Haemhouts put the home side in control.